Wado Ryu

Who created Wado-Ryu?

The founder of Wado-Ryu was Hironori Ohtsuka. He was born in Japan in 1892. Ohtsuka was an expert
in Shindo Yoshin-Ryu , a style of jujutsu. When he discovered karate, Ohtsuka became fascinated
and spent many years studying it. Eventually, he blended jujutsu with karate to form a new style.
This became known as Wado-Ryu. It was officially recognised in 1938.

What makes Wado-Ryu different?

Wado-Ryu is different from other styles of karate because of the principles of jujutsu which Hironori
Ohtsuka introduced. The differences between Wado and other Karate styles are subtle and difficult to
see at first. However, you may notice that Wado-Ryu uses

natural postures and stances

body movement

flowing techniques which avoid meeting force head-on

methods to unbalance the opponent

simultaneous attack and defence.

What are the kata of Wado-Ryu?

In Wado-Ryu, a number of kata are practiced. These are the original nine kata developed by Hironori Ohtsuka:

What is the "partner work" of Wado-Ryu?

In Wado-Ryu a lot of "partner work" is practiced. Two opponents face each other and perform attacking and
defensive moves. Thistraining method reflects the influence of ju-jutsu. This is a list of some of the partner
work you will learn: